California mayor resigns after explosive claims she worked as secret agent for Chinese government
A Southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government and has resigned from her city position, officials said on Monday (May 11).
Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, California, was charged in April with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favourable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law.
The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis.
Her lawyers – Jason Liang and Brian Sun – said in a statement that she recognises the seriousness of the charge and accepts responsibility for 'past personal mistakes'.
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"She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life," they said, adding: "Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver."
Wang is said to have worked on behalf of government officials for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from the end of 2020 to 2022 to promote their interests by promoting pro-PRC propaganda in America.
City manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a news release that no city finances were affected during Wang's time as acting as a Chinese agent.
He said, as per CNN: "We want to be clear: this investigation concerns individual conduct, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022."
Wang's guilty plea comes with a maximum jail term of 10 years behind bars in a federal prison.
In October 2025, a former colleague of hers, Yaoning 'Mike' Sun, pleaded guilty to the same charge that Wang's now facing. He's currently serving a four-year jail sentence.
Both Wang and Sun, who were previously engaged to one another, operated a news website called U.S. News Center, which was aimed at Chinese-Americans.
Allegedly they were ordered by the Chinese government post PRC propaganda on the site.
According to court filings, Chinese officials sent Wang articles and directives through the encrypted messaging app WeChat, Daily Mail reports.
One piece of propaganda denied allegations of genocide and forced labor in China's Xinjiang region.
Wang's attorneys have blamed her former relationship with Sun for leading her 'astray'. The couple are thought to have split in spring 2024.
"Her trust and love for apparently the wrong person who ultimately led her astray,' they said of the former Arcadia mayor's relationship with Sun.
Topics: US News, China, Crime, Politics, California
Niamh Shackleton